1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to plastic bags of the type suitable for use in retail, supermarket, and foods outlets, and other related applications.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Conventional plastic bags are of a flush-cut type, which has been commonly used for the past 10-15 years to hold merchandise or food items as is found, for instance, in retail stores, bakeries, supermarkets or hot dells in a foods outlet.
Years ago, before the strong presence of plastic in such outlets, common paper bags were used as the principle packaging means. These bags were typically "baled" in units of about 500. The outlet using the bag would generally place these bags, stacked one upon the other, on a shelf near a cash register at the check-out counter. When the consumer made a purchase, the clerk would close the sale and then place the consumer's purchase in the paper bag.
With the recognition by retailers of the many great attributes and versatility of plastic, including the availability in many colors and with a substantial space savings, more and more retailers began to switch from paper bags to plastic. Unfortunately, plastic bags could not be stacked one upon the other due to their slippery nature. When dispensed from the counter in this manner, they would frequently slide onto the floor, and hence be thrown away in the trash.
To help overcome this problem, dispenser cartons were designed with simple, square openings in the front panel of the carton. The user could slip his hand inside the square opening on the carton and withdraw a plastic bag through the opening in the same natural motion as with paper. This carton prevented the naturally slippery bags from sliding onto the floor. These bags in dispenser cartons serviced the industry for several years and usually with a specific cost benefit per unit over paper.
In an effort to reduce costs of cardboard cartons and to reduce throwaway trash in a retail operation, several plastic bag producers began to offer dispenser bags to replace the dispenser carton. These bags typically had a square hole in the front part of the dispenser bag. Typically, the plastic bags were dispensed from the dispenser bag in much the same manner as from the dispenser carton.
However, close observation of dispensing bags from a traditional dispenser box or dispenser bag with the square hole in the front reveals another problem. The problem is that as bags are withdrawn from the dispensers, frequently more than one bag would be extracted by the user. This is due to a few factors. One is the natural tendency of thin gauged plastic bags to stick together, one to another, due to static electricity. Another is that during the manufacturing process, the bags are frequently stacked one upon the other on pins, hence creating a tendency for the stack of bags to stick together. The phenomena is further compounded when a manufacturer very tightly packs the dispenser box with bags, pushing the bags together and further enhancing the sticking problem.
When a plastic bag is dispensed from a dispenser box or dispenser bag, it is a common phenomena to accidently extract more than one bag at a time. The result of this phenomena is that the extra extracted bags frequently end up being pushed underneath, and to the back, of the check-out counter. Wastage can be substantial.
One method used to help overcome this problem was to pack the bags in the dispenser with the bottoms (bag tails) towards the square opening. This helps to some extent because the user can more easily locate a single bag tail to withdraw. This means of packing bags was only partially effective in reducing wastage upon dispensing. It did, however, create a new problem that is probably more costly to the retail outlet.
If the bags are packed "tail forward", a user requires 4-5 motions to dispense and open the bag. In contrast, if the bags are packed "mouth forward", a user can dispense and open the bag in 1-2 motions. The extra motions associated with the bags packed "tail forward" constitute extra handling required to reposition the bag favorably with the bag mouth upwards to prepare the bag for opening and loading.
With the high cost of labor in developed countries, these added time consuming steps represent a potentially substantial amount in labor costs as well as a decrease in productivity and customer through-put. Thus, packing the bags tail forward has its drawbacks.
Another potential solution to the bag dispensing problem is putting bags on rolls. However, this approach, while reducing the wastage from bags sticking together, creates a worse productivity picture. The motions required to withdraw and remove a bag from a roll generally number about 7-9. The added motions are required to tear a bag from the roll, then reposition it for opening.
Other approaches to overcoming the bag sticking problem and the dispensing problem are such as those bags of U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,639. These dual tab bags, when dispensed from a carton which retains the dual tabs, have a reliable degree of singulation. This means of mounting the tabs on a tab retention device in the carton packing operation has been relatively costly and labor intensive.
A perforation typically used in a bag tab configuration is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,639. This bag style, when pulled from its tabs, may be vulnerable to tearing at the perforation connection areas. To alleviate this tearing problem, an upwardly pointing tit connection may be provided which causes the tear to be directed into the tab region and away from the bag body. While such a tit connection does tear into the tabs rather than the bag, it leaves unsightly tails attached to the bag. At times, the tit connection may cause tearing across the entire tab, leaving unsightly plastic pieces remaining attached to the bag body.
It would be desirable to provide plastic bags so as to reduce the problems of wastage and loss of productivity associated with the use of flush-cut plastic merchandise bags in retail and supermarket outlets. It would also be preferable to increase the likelihood of a clean cut when severing perforations between a plastic bag and its tab.